§ 8.01-54.Judgment to distribute recovery when verdict fails to do so.

Section 8.01-54 works alongside § 8.01-53 to make sure a wrongful death recovery reaches the right beneficiaries in the right shares. Subsection A says the verdict may, and the judgment must, specify the amount or proportion each beneficiary receives, but a verdict is not set aside merely because it fails to make that specification.

Subsection B lets either party request that the case go to the jury with instructions to specify how the award should be distributed. If the jury cannot agree, or does not make the distribution, the court steps in, specifies the distribution itself, and enters judgment accordingly; for that purpose, the court may hear additional evidence beyond what the jury heard.

Subsection C sets the order of payment once money is recovered. The amount goes first to the personal representative, who pays the costs and reasonable attorney’s fees, then distributes the portions specifically allocated to hospital, medical, and funeral expenses. Whatever remains is then distributed among the beneficiaries identified under § 8.01-53, according to the shares fixed under subsections A and B — and that distribution reaches the beneficiaries free of the decedent’s own debts and liabilities. If no beneficiaries exist, the recovered amount becomes an asset of the estate, handled by the personal representative according to the ordinary rules of estate administration.